Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, women's basketball picks up a big transfer. Trivia is back, and the baseball team looks to pick up a win on the road. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:55] Okay. Welcome to episode 312 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And I hope we're all feeling okay out there, Gamecocks. Obviously, the last time we were all talking to each other, listening to each other, we were in action. It was the national championship game and, you know, had some time to process that and everything, so hope you guys had a good week after that, I. I did, you know, processed it as best I can, and it's just tough, right? Like, it's funny. I don't know about y'all, but, like, for me, it's like my die hard friends and I.
[00:01:42] You kind of know the sports etiquette, right? Like, you have a tough loss, you don't necessarily text that person, like, hey, tough, tough game.
[00:01:52] Sounds so dramatic. But, you know, and I'm saying, like, even for, like, other fans of other sports, too, you know, if I know that a buddy of mine is really invested in something, I might not reach out, at least immediately after to say, like, what. What was that? Or, dang, like, you holding up all right? And it's all well intended, I'm sure, but I got a few of those messages from other people, and it's just like, yeah, I'm fine, obviously, like, but I just sat here for two hours and watched my team get destroyed in the national championship game. So I'm not exactly the happiest guy right now. But than. Thank you. How are you? Type of deal. But, yeah, I hope y'all had a good week nonetheless. And, yeah, now we're just. We're in that period of time where all we have is Gamecock baseball. And I'm going to talk about that in a little bit, but that's where we're at. You know, it's that. It's that time of year. It's springtime now, and soon enough we'll be in the dog days of summer, and the Yardcocks are all we got. But, yeah, we'll definitely do jump into that there. Got two updates for y'all here before I get into athletics. Number one, there will be no show on Monday. I know I've been doing a lot of traveling lately, disrupting the schedule, but no show on Monday. And with it being just baseball there, you know, would only kind of COVID that so, you know, there's not a major event. And if there was, of course, we'll, we'll hop on and, and discuss that. But because we are in that time of year where it's just baseball, if anyone's listened to me for more than a year at this point, then you'll know that every year, this time of year, this season, I bring out my daily Gamecock trivia and fact calendar, keep it at my desk, shout out my mom every Christmas. So we're going to do that at the top of every episode, whether it's a fact or. Or trivia from the calendar here. So let's get it started right now with a piece of trivia.
[00:03:56] Who wrapped up her South Carolina women's basketball career in 2023, ranked number one in team history in games played with 166 and number five in blocks, 192.
[00:04:15] So if you think about the time on this one, you know, when it was games played, that one, I was thinking, oh, like, maybe that could be Aaliyah. Maybe could even be like, maybe Brie hall, you know, but the blocks, number five in blocks, Victoria Saxton. And that is your answer right there. Victoria Saxton, a player who was very, very valuable for those teams, maybe didn't always necessarily get the credit that she deserved. Like, offensive output was sort of hit or miss, but consistently there. There you go. Available.
[00:04:53] Great blocker, great rebounder. And as we have seen this last season, the importance of having those bigs and a plethora of bigs really can make the difference there. So shout out Victoria Saxton. Shout out women's basketball team. Shout out my Gamecock fact and trivia calendar there. But. All right, let's jump into some news and notes here. I got a bit of old news from the men's basketball team. I. I didn't touch on it last episode or two, but Morris Ugasuk has entered the transfer portal. That one is a little surprising to see a guy that seemingly was developing under Lamont Paris. And this year for sure, you saw him have more games and have more impact despite, you know, the net results not being there always. So I was a little surprised to see him enter the portal. Maybe it's a deal where the guys that Lamont is bringing in and having some of those conversations, it's like, hey, your role is pretty much going to stay the same. You're going to come off the bench, play some minutes for us, you know, but you're not necessarily going to be this massive role that we're going to feature and I guess he felt his development would be best suited elsewhere. So best of luck to him, Morris Ugasuk. But yeah, we'll, we'll see you on the other side there. And I think that leaves three or four scholarships open for the basketball team. So Lamont Paris certainly will be continuing to work the portal. There's guys entering it regularly and he will continue to reload that roster there.
[00:06:29] Sticking to the hardwood here. I got some news on the women's basketball team, funny enough, some news that is not national championship related or anything like that, but there was a big announcement where you had, excuse me, the leading scorer from this last season, the leading scorer in the country, Tania Latson from Florida State has committed to South Carolina. She entered the portal and it was a big deal and everyone knew there was going to be probably the biggest portal recruitment out there.
[00:07:08] And Tania Ladson decides to commit to South Carolina and that signals to everybody in the country that we ain't going nowhere. We are not going anywhere. To bring that scorer to us is massive. You know, we've talked a lot about this past team and they were so good. Like I think what made the team so good, A, you had Don's coaching, but B, I think they understood their jobs to a tee, right? Everyone knew their role, which is what you saw happen as those late game situations. Everyone knew where to be, everyone knew how to execute and things like that.
[00:07:50] But what this team lacked, aside from a true center was someone who could just say, I'm going to take over this MF game. Like Full Wiley can be that person.
[00:08:07] But it was sort of by committee this past season where you had Chloe Kits have a really good game, you had Full Wiley have a really good game. Pow pow would have a good game, right?
[00:08:19] Whereas in years past you could kind of pencil some of these players in, whether it was, you know, Cardozo, right. Boston.
[00:08:28] So when you bring in a player like this now, someone who can do it all, that is going to be a big time factor for South Carolina and the continued development of some of these players, like a full Wiley, like Tessa, like Chloe, right? So you still return this core and you're bringing in some good recruits, but now you're bringing in a veteran player, the nation's leading scorer from a year ago and it just signals you're not going anywhere. But part of the maybe, maybe part of the reason here that she decided to commit to USC was the other bit of news from the women's program is that Raven Johnson is returning for Another year at school, there was some chatter, will she maybe try to go to the NBA or the wnba? Excuse me. But ultimately, Raven decides to come back. And them two, they go way back. They played before college. They're friends. They've remained close to this day. And I think you had a couple of reporters asking her, like, hey, have you been in touch when the news broke that Latson was entering the portal there? So maybe there was a little bit of recruitment by Raven, but nonetheless, she gets to come back for another year and play with a good friend of hers and try to make another deep run in the tournament there. And look, I like Raven. I'm a Raven Johnson fan. I think she is a player that I think still has room for development. And you've seen the development happen year over year. And look, it's one of those deals where even in the pros you try to get better, right? But in college especially, we talk about that. So she's someone for me who has that room to continue to grow, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. But she is a veteran leader. She's a culture fit. She knows how we do things. She knows the standards that are South Carolina.
[00:10:28] And so I don't see any drawbacks for her returning. I see only positives. And when you compliment her with a great player who she has chemistry with, a friend, I think it only adds to it. Right? And the point guard is a very, very important, important position.
[00:10:46] And when you have a veteran there who understands not just what their job is, but what the job of everybody else is, it just is invaluable. So already some excitement building for next year for women's basketball at usc. So that was some. Some really fun and welcome news for this past week.
[00:11:09] But. All right, talking about the games and teams that are still in action here, talking Yardcocks, it is their time to shine. For us fans here, the only action we get from USC right now is the Yardcocks. And you know what? We got the softball team, too. What am I talking about here? And you know what? There's still the other spring sports. We didn't cover them today because there wasn't anything during the midweek to go over there. So you know what? I take that back. We still do have a lot to look forward to, but nonetheless, here, talking their midweek game here. The guys were in action Tuesday night at Founders as the GameCocks took on USC Upstate. And this was a nice palate cleanser, which is what the midweeks should be. You should largely be in control of those, as the GameCocks beat Upstate 13 to 3 in a run rule game. And everything was clicking for the Gamecocks. It was a much welcomed site. Bit of a change, but yeah, you had the Gamecocks jumping out to a four nothing lead in the bottom of the. Of the first there. You had Petrie hit a home run, May sure hit a home run. And then in the second, they tacked on some more runs, just generating that offense, walking in some guys, guys hitting singles and doubles. And yeah, it was just consistent offense from the Gamecocks, but it was the pitching that really caught my eye in this one. Again, you only let up three runs on five hits. It just looked more crisp and more complete than we have frankly grown accustomed to seeing from this pitching staff there. So it was exactly what the team needed after again, another tough weekend series in the sec. So you come home, you take on Upstate, you handle business there, and you look to keep some of that momentum going into the weekend. Tyler Pitzer was the opener went just that one inning. It was Jackson Susi who actually got the win going three innings from there. A couple other guys helped out in relief. Player highlights here. Ethan Petrie, two for four with two rbi. Jordan carry on, two for three with three rbi. And Dalton Mayshore, one for three with four rbi. So that was again a much welcomed sight to see as the guys hit the road on this week, or should I say midweek, kind of right where the guys are headed to Texas A and M Thursday. So a little bit of a change up there where you have that Thursday start to the series and you wrap up everything Saturday afternoon. So, yeah, the guys are headed to College Station. And this is an interesting one for me, you know, when you look at the SEC standings, which, you know, I won't lie, I haven't done a whole lot of this baseball season just because you kind of know where the Gamecocks are going to be given the results.
[00:14:20] Right. But I wanted to see what A and M had been up to. So in the SEC, South Carolina is currently 2 and 10. It's been a tough go at it, but Texas A and M not much better, sitting just one place ahead of Carolina at 3 and 9 in conference. So look, if we're looking at this thing, surface level, which I think we have to at this point, because if you try to go too deep on this baseball team, you might end up coming up with more questions than answers, let me say. So look, I look at this as an opportunity where this team just had a fantastic showing in The Upstate, with this being a Thursday start, that feeling is more fresh, right? Like maybe there's still some of that momentum there, some of that good feeling, especially in that bullpen.
[00:15:17] You're going against a team that has struggled, maybe on a Thursday night, it's not of a raucous of an environment as it would be in the. In the weekend evening.
[00:15:29] So maybe this is a interesting place for the Gamecocks to try and make some noise on the road. It's been tough in the SEC period, for this team, but it's been especially hard on the road, right? And it's always tough on the road in this league and in this sport, right? So can the Gamecocks go out there and potentially steal a series?
[00:15:54] Wouldn't that be something, huh? To get that big series win in the SEC that you're so desperately been looking for on the road randomly in College Station, Stranger things have happened. And look, I saw someone talking about it on social media saying, you know, if we're. If we are keeping an eye at any chance of a post season, like, what do we need to do? And I'm not going to get concerned with that right now.
[00:16:24] You know, I think we had some hopes and we spoke a little bit towards the expectations of this program and our fan base before the season started.
[00:16:36] This season has not transpired, I think, the way a lot of us had hoped it would.
[00:16:43] But you can still get some good vibes and momentum on your side. You know, if you can pick up a series win on the road this weekend at Texas A and M and then you come home next weekend, maybe, just maybe, you can string together something here.
[00:17:04] And baseball is a funny sport. All you got to do is get hot. You get hot at the right time, maybe you get hot and stay hot for the SEC tournament. I don't know.
[00:17:17] I'm trying to focus on A and M right now. I'm trying to focus on the task at hand here. And so my. My quote of the series here is going to be. That is going to be, you know, don't give any free bases.
[00:17:29] You know, have a strong showing from your pitching staff from top to bottom. Because that's what's been tough for us in these SEC series, the consistency on the mound. So if you can pound the strike zone consistently, not give up free bases, don't give up that big inning that's just killed us in some of these close games, right? Like, it's been a battle. And then you give up that one inning where it's like four or five runs. Just don't do that and let's see what can happen. The offense had a great showing on Tuesday.
[00:18:01] Let's have that pitching staff continue that momentum.
[00:18:05] Let's go. But with that, y'all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecox. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking Gamecocks. And please, like, subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cocks.
